Meet Our Founder

Rudolph J. Liedtke

Rudolph J. Liedtke, Chief Executive Officer

Rudolph J. Liedtke began his career an electronics technician with Dr. Jan Nyboer, a leading cardiovascular researcher at Wayne State University. Liedtke directly worked with Nyboer, pioneering bioelectrical impedance plethysmography in a variety of medical applications. Liedtke immersed himself in scientific texts and lectures in medicine, technology, chemistry, physics and electronics, eventually heading east to New York.

In the 1960s, Liedtke directed automated machine projects and nuclear technology for the US Navy for Century Detroit, a division of global technology giant Babcock & Wilcox (originally famous for its steam boiler designs hailed by Thomas Edison and used in the first public power generator stations in the 1880s.)

Liedtke left Babcock & Wilcox in 1971 to start Controls Associates, Inc., with business partner Jim Slack, to design and manufacture electronic systems for automotive and machine tool industries. In the mid-70s, Liedtke designed the computer technology used to randomize national coupon systems, to help prevent fraudulent distribution.

In 1979, Liedtke formed RJL Systems to design and build bioelectrical impedance technologies using his own formula which revolutionized the accuracy and reliability of the science. He holds the patent for bioelectrical impedance assessment, as well as several other patents in a variety of technologies, including Micro-Bar coliform disinfection apparatus for water retention basins, a porous, flexible and fungus-resistant polymeric artificial nail, and a biometric health care data system network. RJL body composition analyzers are used by thousands of researchers and practitioners in medical, educational and military settings all over the world. Liedtke continues to lead his engineering team to devise and advance new technological frontiers.

In his leisure time, Liedtke enjoys travel, hiking and reading novels by Ayn Rand, Dean Koontz and David Baldacci. He lives with his wife, Helga in Grosse Pointe Park, Michigan.